Wits Journalism brings the 10th Global Investigative Journalism Conference to Africa which will bring over 1 000 top investigative journalists together.
IN PARTNERSHIP with the Global Investigative Journalism Network, Wits Journalism will be hosting the 10th Global Investigative Journalism Conference
(GIJC) for the first time on African soil at the Wits Science Stadium.
GIJC 2017: Joseph Stiglitz is a keynote speaker at the GIJC 2017. Photo: UNIDO via Flickr (CC BY-ND 2.0)
Held every two years, the global conference brings together over 1 000 top investigative journalists and reporters from around the world for four days filled with about 120 panel discussions, workshops and networking opportunities. Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz and Zimbabwean human rights attorney Beatrice Mtetwa will be the keynote speakers.
The conference will run from November 16 to 19 and will offer training on data journalism and online investigative tools.
Despite the logistical demands required to host a conference of this magnitude, head of Wits Journalism, Professor Franz Krüger, said hosting over 100 countries is an honour for the journalism department.
“There are huge numbers of speakers so it is a complicated logistical exercise. We have had a big team of around six people working on it [the conference] quite intensely for the last year,” he said.
One of the organisers of the conference, journalism Professor Anton Harber said, “The amount and quality of investigative reporting going on in parts of Africa seldom gets much attention, so this is a great opportunity to highlight and promote the important work being done by African investigative reporters, and to off er support and encouragement.”
Durban University of Technology BTech in journalism student Nosipho Nyide, who was one of the students who received a bursary to attend the conference, said her passion for finding the deeper truth inspired her to pursue investigative journalism. “I am looking forward to listening to the guest speakers and getting to learn from other investigative journalists who are already working in the field,” she said.
According to Harber, crossborder investigations that require cooperation between different reporters is an important development in recent years. “This conference brings people together to enable that kind of cooperation and sharing,” he said.
The programme for the conference is available on the Global Investigative Journalism Conference website (gijc2017.org) and people interested can register to attend.
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